Main North Gates, Lord Wandsworth College, Long Sutton, Hampshire

Summary

Main north gates to Lord Wandsworth College, built 1914-1915 to the designs of Reginald Blomfield.

Description

Main north gates to Lord Wandsworth College, built 1914-1915 to the designs of Reginald Blomfield.

MATERIALS: walls constructed of red brick, with stone dressings and iron gates.

DESCRIPTION: grand gates in a swaggering Edwardian Baroque manner, fronting the White Hill road to the north. There are three decorative iron gates, with a central carriage entrance flanked by two pedestrian entrances, framed by substantial brick gate piers capped with stone urns. From the gate piers spring a stone-capped brick arch with a festooned central cartouche bearing Lord Wandsworth’s heraldic shield. The symmetrically-composed flanking walls arc around to the road to give a broad approach to the gates. The stone-capped walls step down in height and terminate with brick piers which are also capped with stone urns.

History

Lord Wandsworth College was established with money left by Sydney James Stern, Baron Wandsworth (1844-1912), a banker and MP who was raised to the peerage in 1895. As a Liberal MP for the rural Suffolk constituency of Stowmarket, Stern had taken an interest in agricultural affairs and had been committed to improving the living conditions of the rural poor, introducing three Bills on Better Housing of the Working Classes in Rural Districts in the 1890s. Upon his death in 1912, the majority of his £1.25 million fortune was allocated for a residential institution for the benefit of the rural poor, where ‘scientific and practical training will be given in every branch connected with Agriculture’ (quoted in Podger, pp16-17). In accordance with the stipulations set out in the bequest, a committee formed of various experts in the fields of agricultural management, finance and education was established to oversee the foundation and guide its development. The initial question of the site for the ‘Lord Wandsworth Orphanage’, as it was originally termed, was considered by the Trust in 1913. The Long Sutton estate was chosen from a shortlist in August and acquired in October the same year. At the time of purchase the site was comprised of 950 acres of arable land, with the main Sutton House and its associated farm buildings situated to the south and Hyde Farm and its various buildings set to the west. Bennet’s Field, which occupied the main right of way to Hyde Farm, was subsequently purchased in October 1917. The estate was reported to be in poor condition in 1913, with 17 existing cottages on the estate found to be ‘unfit for human habitation’ and the land and hedges in a ‘dreadful condition’ (Kinney, p43); the state of Long Sutton at this stage reflecting the decades of depression that had severely affected agriculture across the country.

The Lord Wandsworth Foundation was originally conceived along the lines of a model village, with the intention being that small groups of children would reside in cottages overseen by a housemaster and be taught on the farm and at a central school house. Trustees met in January 1914 to consider the layout of the site and instigate an initial building programme. Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) was appointed to advise the Trust and was given responsibility for selecting an architect to create plans for new buildings under his direction. The architect that Blomfield recommended to the Trust, selected in July 1914 from a field of five candidates, was Guy Dawber (1861-1938); a former President of the Architectural Association, principally known for his designs for many small country houses and writings on vernacular architecture. The earliest work on the estate was divided, apparently with ‘some friction’, between the two architects (Podger, p20). Blomfield assumed responsibility for the lodge and main entrance gates, for which plans were produced in July 1914. In the same year Blomfield also designed Shepewood House and several estate cottages. Additionally, in collaboration with C S Orwin (Director of the Institute for Agricultural Economics at Oxford), he produced plans for the extensive Hyde Farm buildings to the west of the site. Dawber’s early work included a power house and laundry block, designs being produced in February 1915, along with a series of cottages completed by October 1916. Plans for a grand range of school buildings produced by Dawber, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915, were interrupted by the outbreak of war with only the Administration and Engineering Blocks completed. Further buildings were constructed to Dawber's designs into the 1920s, including School House and Junior House.

As the first new building scheme for the Lord Wandsworth Foundation, the gates, along with the vernacular, Queen Anne style lodge, determined the main approach to the college and set the architectural tone for the rest of the estate. The gates and the lodge were designed as a piece by Blomfield, with plans signed by him in July 1914. Construction of the gates and lodge was carried out in 1914-15, with two houses set to the east of the Four Horseshoes public house demolished to make way for the work, whilst an existing outbuilding to the south was retained as an ancillary building for the lodge. Upon completion, the gates and lodge stood in isolation; a tender for the laying of the road leading south to the centre of the college and several estate cottages along this main approach was not accepted until July 1923 (Podger, p43). The gates continue to be the formal entrance to the college, although the main access for vehicles is now from the south-west where bus stops and car parks have been positioned.

Reasons for Listing

The Main North Gates to Lord Wandsworth College are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an elaborate and finely-detailed example of a set of entrance gates in the Edwardian Baroque manner, designed by Reginald Blomfield, a leading architect of the period;

Historic interest:

* as a well-preserved component of an important educational trust focussed on agricultural training, established as a legacy of the Liberal politician and philanthropist Sydney James Stern, Baron Wandsworth (1844-1912);

Group value:

* with the other early Lord Wandsworth College buildings, particularly the adjacent lodge house, designed as a piece with the gates by Blomfield. The buildings throughout the estate have a strong collective value, demonstrating careful planning by Blomfield and Dawber, manifest in the varied yet harmonious arrangement of distinguished buildings which draw on vernacular and classical traditions.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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